Summary:

Senior gameplay engineer with 25+ years of professional game development experience, specializing in gameplay systems, combat, tools, and live service development. Extensive background shipping and supporting complex, multi-platform titles, including long-running live service games and a large-scale MMO. Known for cross-team collaboration, unblocking critical paths, and delivering systems that scale.

Core Skills & Technologies

• Unreal Engine 4/5 (C++, Blueprints)
• Gameplay Systems (Stats, Abilities, Skill Trees, Progression)
• MMO & Live Service Development
• Tools Development (Designer / VFX / Audio workflows)
• AI & State-Based Systems (State Trees)
• Cross-Platform Development (Console, PC, Mobile)
• Platform Certification & Submissions
• Performance & Debugging
• Team Leadership & Mentorship

Professional Experience

Senior Gameplay Engineer III

Intrepid Studios, Inc. — San Diego, CA

March 2020 – Present

Project: Ashes of Creation (Unreal Engine, MMO)

Senior gameplay systems engineer on a large-scale MMO, working as both a combat engineer and cross-team generalist. Frequently reassigned to unblock teams and support major public milestones.

Gameplay & Systems

• Designed and implemented the core character stats system, supporting scalable MMO combat, progression, and balance.
• Developed combat abilities, projectiles, and related gameplay systems in close collaboration with designers.
• Implemented the skill tree system and currently refactoring it to support the augment/class system.
• Contributed to siege gameplay, PvP flagging, and elements of the corruption system.
• Implemented gameplay features including carriable world objects (crates) and fish holding tanks for the Sport Fishing system.

Tools & Pipelines

• Built designer-facing tools to streamline ability creation, iteration, and debugging.
• Created a standalone ability preview/playback tool allowing VFX and Audio teams to author and test effects without running the full game.

Cross-Team & Live Support

• Assisted multiple teams outside of combat, including:
  • Narrative and questing bug fixes
  • NPC AI features and StateTree support
• Helped deliver Alpha 1, Alpha 2 (Phases 1–3), and the Steam release.
• Frequently pulled from primary responsibilities to help unblock delayed teams and ensure milestone delivery.

Early Development

• Contributed to an early version of the game launcher.
• Helped stabilize and prepare builds for early public testing.

Lead / Senior Gameplay Programmer

FarSight Studios, Inc. — Big Bear Lake, CA

September 2005 – February 2020

Lead and senior programmer across numerous shipped titles and platforms, specializing in gameplay frameworks, engine systems, and live service development.

Highlights

• Led development of a custom pinball gameplay framework, enabling rapid implementation of licensed pinball tables across console, PC, and mobile platforms.
• Delivered monthly live content updates for Pinball Arcade across console, PC, and mobile platforms for 7 consecutive years, coordinating gameplay, platform submissions, and releases on a fixed cadence.
• Served as Lead Programmer on multiple projects, managing small engineering teams (1–4 programmers) and delegating tasks.
• Primary engineer for Xbox 360/XBLA and Steam/PC, including platform-specific features such as Achievements, Leaderboards, and Trophies.
• Implemented gameplay systems, UI/front-end systems, simulation systems, scripting (Lua), motion controls, Kinect systems, and platform integrations.
• Shipped titles across Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 2/3/4/Vita, Wii, Switch, PC, iOS, Android, and VR.
• Worked on both Unreal Engine and proprietary engines.

Selected Shipped Titles

• Pinball Arcade
• Stern Pinball Arcade
• The Party Arcade (Nintendo Switch)
• Game Party series
• Pinball Hall of Fame series
• Backyard Baseball / Football series

Software Engineer

Sony Computer Entertainment of America — Foster City, CA

March 2001 – July 2005

Highlights

• Co-inventor of a patented on-screen keyboard system.
• Worked on system-level UI, networking, media applications, and framework components for PlayStation 2 and PSX.
• Developed reusable libraries for UI, networking, memory cards, input, and textures.

Patent:

On-Screen Keyboard System

http://www.google.sc/patents/WO2004063918A2

Junior Game Programmer

Osiris Studios, Inc. — Santa Cruz, CA

October 2000 – January 2001

Highlights

• Gameplay programming, HUD, particle systems, databases, and tools for an unpublished PlayStation 2 title.